


Howlin' For You

by writinginthegutter



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Chaptered, F/F, Supernatural Nicole Haught, Werewolf Nicole Haught, Werewolves, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-06 16:32:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14060952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writinginthegutter/pseuds/writinginthegutter
Summary: In which a giant wolf attack is only the beginning of their troubles





	1. Nicole - The Attack

**Author's Note:**

> Alternates between Nicole & Waverly’s POV

Nicole’s head snaps to the side immediately as she hears a sharp scream, only to see the beast charging towards Waverly,  _her Waverly_. 

 _Oh no, you don’t_. She quickly aims at the creature and fires three times, right through the head. 

No blood. _Why isn’t there any blood?_  It doesn’t die, doesn’t even fall down.

It just turns around and locks eyes with her. 

Time seemed to freeze when she shot, but it’s going twice as fast now. She doesn’t have time to readjust her aim, doesn’t even have time to blink before she feels herself get knocked to the ground. Suddenly everything is fur, claws, teeth, and pain. She can’t hear Waverly’s horrified scream, or even her own, can’t hear the vicious growling and snarling despite it being inches from her ears. She can only feel the pain of claws digging in her skin, weight crushing her ribs, and fangs nipping at her clothes, hungry for blood.

_Bang_

The unmistakeable sound of Peacemaker tears through it all. She feels the weight roll off her. She gasps, squinting at the sunlight on her face. 

“Baby, are you okay?” 

She can’t speak, still catching her breath in big gasps, but reaches up and gently strokes Waverly’s cheek, wiping a tear with her thumb. She tries to smile reassuringly and sees her girl’s face soften with relief. 

She groans as she sits up, feeling a pang of pain every time she moves.

“Hey, hey, take it easy,” Waverly tells her softly, gently trying to push her back down.

“I’m fine,” Nicole protests. “Just a bit…sore”

She stands up, looking for the gun she dropped during the attack. She finds it in the grass right next to a small patch of burnt grass. She should be used to it by now, but it still feels strange, fighting against an enemy one second and seeing no trace of if but a tiny pile of ash the next. It makes the whole thing feel like a fever dream. 

“That was the last of the pack. Giant demonic wolves, done!” Wynonna gestures, checking an item off an imaginary list. “Seriously though, you alright?” 

“I’m good, thank you Wynonna”

“Hey, it’s what I do, I’m the bitch who sends ‘em back to hell,” she reminds them, smirking. “Well, I’m gonna celebrate this at Shorty’s and I’ll let you two, uh, ‘unwind’ while I’m not there to walk in on you.” She winks, and turns around to walk to her truck. 

“I’m not sure I’ve got enough energy for the kind of ‘unwinding’ you sister’s hinting at,” Nicole sighs. 

“Aww, let me take care of you, babe,” Waverly says sweetly, as she cautiously wraps her arms around her. 

A quick peck on the lips turns into lingering kisses, as the two recover from their fear of almost losing the other. Waverly slides her hand up her girlfriend’s side as they get a bit carried away, and Nicole breaks the kiss with a hiss. 

“Sorry!”

“It’s fine, but I really should get those cuts disinfected,” Nicole says, reluctantly pulling away from her girlfriend’s embrace and taking her hand instead.

“Come on then. I’m gonna make you all better,” Waverly promises, squeezing her hand as they walk towards the homestead.


	2. Waverly - Patching Up

Waverly steps down the stairs, carrying some cotton, alcohol, and bandages. She finds Nicole in the kitchen, examining her skin, her back to her. 

“How bad is it?,” she asks softly, stepping around the discarded shirt on the floor and setting the items on the table.

“I’m fine…” Nicole mumbles. She turns to face her. “I can’t find any cuts. I could’ve swore…” she says, puzzled.

Waverly leans closer, searching for the spot that she had accidentally brushed against earlier, the one that had made Nicole hiss in pain. She only finds a faint pink mark, barely visible, and gently touches it with her fingertip. She looks up to her girlfriend’s face for any sign of discomfort, and watches as she smiles softly instead. 

“I guess I was just shaken up. Sorry I made you get this for nothing.” She smiles apologetically, nodding towards the supplies laid out on the table. 

“Are you sure this doesn’t hurt?,” Waverly asks, concerned, her finger still resting on the light scratch on Nicole’s ribs. 

She feels Nicole’s hand reach her own in response, and press against it to it lays flat against her skin. Aching for more contact, Waverly places her other hand on Nicole’s waist. She’s hesitant at first, still scared she’ll hurt her, but Nicole’s response quickly reassures her. Nicole’s lips crash against hers in a passionate kiss that takes her breath away, then move down her jaw and to her neck. 

“Didn’t… you… need to… rest?” Waverly manages to ask between gasps, still breathless from the kiss and distracted by the brush of lips and gentle scrape of teeth on her neck. 

“I’m okay” Nicole breathes into her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

“Are… you… sure?” Waverly insists, remembering how worn out her girl had seemed on the way back to the homestead. 

“I’m all good, baby,” Nicole assures, and demonstrates this by scooping Waverly up in her arms in one swift motion. 

Waverly squeals in her surprise to be literally swept off her feet, and wraps an arm around Nicole’s neck. She cups her face with her free hand and kisses her again. When she pulls her face away, Nicole’s eyes are dark with desire, mirroring her own. 

“Bed?,” she whispers huskily in her ear.

“Bed.” Waverly echoes in approval.


	3. Nicole - Coming Home

Nicole comes home late that night. She hangs her coat and takes off her boots, hearing the familiar tap of paws on the wooden floor. Calamity Jane is even more eager to greet her than usual, considering she hasn’t gotten her supper yet. Nicole bends down to pet the cat, but the second her hand gets close, Calamity dodges her hand, hisses at her, and runs away.

 “Guess I still smell like dog,” Nicole chuckles. 

She stops by the kitchen and fills up her bowl, surprised the cat doesn’t come back running for her food, and heads upstairs for a long hot shower. 

As she unbuttons her shirt, she notices a tear in the fabric.  _Stupid demon wolf_. When she runs her finger absent-mindedly along the tear, she notices the fabric feels stiff. She takes the shirt off and holds it near the light. From up close, she can see small brownish stains against the dark fabric. Dried blood. She didn’t… bleed, did she? She looks at the scratch on her ribs in the mirror. It’s so faint she has trouble seeing it at first. That’s the kind of scratch she’d get from Calamity Jane waking her up by pouncing on her, not from a wolf attack. There’s no way this tiny scratch could’ve made her bleed through her shirt. She’s lucky the beast barely grazed her like that. The blood must be the wolf’s, then. Did it bleed when Wynonna shot it? She can’t remember. Either way, that shirt is a goner. She tosses it in the hall so she can throw it away later and hops in the shower. 

She’s cautious at first, remembering how the scratches on her skin had stung while she had walked back to the homestead earlier. She remembers the pain in her ribs, feeling like her bones were breaking, while the beast stood on top of her. She remembers feeling scratches tearing her clothes and the skin underneath. She even remembers bites, razor-sharp teeth sinking into her shoulder. At least, she  _thinks_  she remembers- yet the marks on her skin are scarce, and none of them look like they bled. She anticipates at least a bit of pain from the contact with soap and warm water, some light stinging, maybe. She is surprised to realize she feels none. The feeling of hot water on her skin quickly washes away any remaining doubt or question in her mind. 

She sleeps peacefully that night.


	4. Nicole- Date night in

It only takes a few day for what was left of the marks on Nicole’s body to disappear completely. 

With them, she loses the only tangible reminder of the attack. 

Not that she misses it. In fact, she barely notices when they disappear- she had stopped paying attention to them way before.

Without any physical injury, any  _evidence_ , the memory quickly starts to feel like a vague dream. It only comes back to her in quick flashes, when something triggers the memory. When she walks down that same path near the homestead with Waverly, and can’t help looking over to where the burning pile of ash had laid despite knowing there’s nothing left anymore. When she unexpectedly hears a dog growl or bark and jumps, startled. 

Or when she looks though her closet for her dark blue shirt before remembering she threw it away. 

She sighs, settling for a soft flannel instead, and barely has time to pull it over her head before she hears the doorbell.

“Coming,” she shouts as she rushes down the stairs and finishes buttoning her shirt up. 

She opens the door and Waverly’s smile makes her heart skip a beat just like that first time she saw her at Shorty’s. 

“I come bearing food, my lady,” Waverly announces solemnly as she hands Nicole the boxes of Chinese takeout, their preferred casual-netflix-date food. 

“Hey, where’s CJ?” Waverly asks as she takes off her boots. “She always comes to greet me,” she pouts. 

Nicole smiles fondly, remembering how her cat absolutely  _adores_  Waverly and comes running to her the second she hears her come through the door. She has accused Waverly of “stealing her cat’s affection” more than once, seeing as the cat is practically glued to Waverly’s side every time she comes over, but she can’t deny it’s absolutely adorable. 

“Hiding, probably. Has been the whole week. I think she might be a bit jealous cause she’s starting to realise she’s not the only lady in my life anymore,” she says jokingly as she leans in to give her girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips. 

They make their way to the sofa, from which they probably won’t be moving for the whole evening. 

Nicole sits curled up against Waverly on the couch, with a box of her favorite Chinese takeout order, watching her girlfriend flick through her Netflix suggestions, and she’s simply  _happy_. There’s nothing special about that night, the food, or the activity in itself, but the fact that she’s sharing it all with her favorite person,  _that_  makes it special. It’s her favorite way to unwind from a long, tiring week. 

“Supernatural?,” Waverly suggests, nodding towards the screen.

Nicole raises an eyebrow, smirking. “Don’t you get enough of that from your daily life?,” she teases. 

“Ugh,  _yes_. You’re right. No demons, no monsters, none of that tonight,” she huffs, flicking through the series again. 

She finally stops on a cheesy sitcom that Nicole agrees to automatically, partly because she doesn’t really care what they’re watching as long as they’re together, and party because she knows she probably won’t really end up paying attention to the series anyway.

Her prediction is right- they’re only halfway through the first episode when wandering hands start roaming up her shirt and familiar lips find her own.

Waverly pushes her down gently, straddling her waist while they kiss. Nicole lets her have her way for a while, until the urge to take over becomes too strong and she flips them over. Waverly looks at her from below, eyes twinkling, welcoming the change of pace with a smirk. 

Nicole lets her lips trail along Waverly’s neck and inhales deeply. She loves catching the faint floral scent of her shampoo when she holds her close, but she smells... different, this time. She can still smell the shampoo, particularly strongly today- she must’ve washed her hair right before coming over- but there’s something else. It smells sweet, but not like flowers or fruit. She can’t identify exactly what it is, but she knows it’s her new favorite scent. It smells like  _Waverly_ , she decides, as she kisses her neck a bit roughly, letting her teeth scrape at the soft skin. The way Waverly twitches below her and the faint mark appearing on her neck wakes  _something_  inside her, and the low sound comes out from her throat before she can register it. 

“Did you just  _growl_?” Waverly asks, amused.

Nicole flushes, her fierce expression dropping instantly.

“Uh, maybe? It was just a spur of the moment thing, I didn’t mean to-” she rambles, flustered, before Waverly cuts her off with a kiss.

“Do you think you could do it again?,” she asks with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.


	5. Nicole- Full Moon

It’s common knowledge that the full moon is the strangest and busiest time of the month in emergency rooms, and police stations are no different. Obviously, in a town crawling with demons and various creatures of the night like Purgatory, this goes double. 

Nicole usually doesn’t mind. She’s a hard worker, always has been. She loves a challenge, and is happiest when kept busy. This time, however, she would’ve preferred a regular night shift, or maybe no night shift at all. 

She rubs her temple, glancing at the clock for the second time in the same minute, and groans. 

When it started with a light headache, about two hours ago, she ignored it and kept working. She can’t ignore it anymore. What started as a light pain is now a pounding in her head that feels like it’s doubling every minute. She feels feverish-  _has it always been so hot in this office?_ \- and the nausea creeping up on her reminds her of a bad hangover. She knows without looking in the mirror that all color has been drained from her face, and she must look like  _hell_. She really wishes she could crawl into bed right now, where it’s soft, dark and  _quiet_. Yet the calls keep coming in, the pile of reports to fill seems never-ending, and she can’t catch a break. She gasps as a wave of pain hits her, her throat tightening with nausea. She presses her face into her palms until she can feel the pain fade from unbearable to almost-unbearable. She takes a deep breath, picks up her pen again, and tries her best to focus all of her attention on the report in front of her.  

She’s interrupted by a light tap on her office. She jumps, startled. She had noticed Nedley popping by a few times in the past two hours, a look on his face that could almost be described as worried, but she hadn’t seen him approaching this time. 

“I called Waverly. She’s coming to pick you up. Take the rest of the night off,” he simply tells her. 

“But-”

“That’s an order, officer,” he says firmly before walking away. Nicole smiles faintly, recognizing the concern hidden behind the gruff tone of his voice. She doesn’t have the energy to protest. She gathers her things, dazed, and looks at the clock one last time. 10PM. She’d make sure to make up for the two hours she’s missing. 

She steps outside, welcoming the cold air on her skin with relief.  

She breathes in slowly. She can see the glow of the full moon behind the heavy clouds, and some stars peering between them. She focuses on that to distract herself from the pain gnawing at her insides. She stands there, mesmerized by the night sky, and before long, she is pulled from her contemplation by the sound of tires slowing to a stop next to her. 

“Okay, if  _Nedley_  is sending you home, something is  _seriously_  wrong. Do I need to drive you to the hospital or-”

“I’ll be fine, Wave,” Nicole replies softly, doing her best to reassure her girlfriend. “I just need to rest, it’s probably just a light fever”

She forces a smile, but the look in her eyes must betray her because Waverly comes closer and presses a palm to her forehead, looking anything but reassured. Nicole almost flinches at the contact of her hand- it feels like ice on her skin.

“A light fever? Baby, you’re burning up! I really think-”

“No hospital.  _Please_ ,” Nicole pleads. She already hated hospitals as much as the next person, without the added post-abduction memories. She doesn’t even need to try to use puppy eyes against her girlfriend- the way her voice comes out so weakly, and the exhausted look on her face are enough to pull at Waverly’s heartstrings. 

“Fine, I’ll take you home,” she complies. “But if that fever hasn’t gone down in an hour, I’m taking you to the hospital, whether you want to or not. I’ll drag you there kicking and screaming if I have to!

A soft chuckle escapes Nicole’s mouth as she imagines her small but  _oh so determined_  girlfriend drag her around. 

Waverly points her finger at her sternly, a hand on her hip. “I mean it!”

“I know you do, babe. Honestly, if that fever hasn’t gone down in an hour, I won’t have the energy to argue with you. I think I’ll be asleep by then, though. I really need to lay down.”

She hears Waverly ask her if she can take her to the homestead with her, something about Wynonna needing the truck tomorrow morning, and she nods sleepily. She doesn't care where she's going as long as she gets to lay down and sleep the pain away. The ride home is short, but it’s enough to lull her to sleep. She’s vaguely aware of Waverly gently waking her up and guiding her to her bed, but it feels hazey, almost like she’s been drugged. She flops heavily on Waverly's bed, dimly aware of having covers lovingly pulled over her, and falls back into a deep, dreamless, fever-induced sleep.

She’s waken up by a wave of pain that easily surpasses all those she had endured in the evening.

She’s not aware of crying out, but she supposes she must have, because Waverly comes running to her side. 

She sits up, her face buried in her hands. It all came back tenfolds. The splitting headache. The sharp pain biting viciously at her insides. The nausea crawling up her throat. The heat, the unbearable  _heat_  consuming her. Her head is spinning, like she stood up too fast, but it won’t  _stop_. When Waverly talks to her, it sounds distant, as through a tunnel.

“That’s it, we’re going to the hospital”

Suddenly, all the overwhelming sensations are overcome by a spike of anger. She tenses.

“No hospital,” she mutters, her voice raspy.

“Come on, baby, you have to, you’re clearly really sick,” Waverly insists anxiously. Her hand reaches out to stroke her back soothingly, but Nicole flinches at the touch. 

“ _No._ ”

“Look, it’s been more than an hour, and you’re clearly not better. We had agreed that we’d go if your fever didn’t go down by eleven, and it’s almost midnight.” 

Waverly’s voice is stern, like she’s talking to a stubborn child. The anger rises in Nicole’s chest again. She lifts her face from her hands to shoot her a glare, and watches as Waverly’s face goes from determined to unsettled, almost scared. A weird sense of satisfaction arises from seeing Waverly’s eyes go wide as she takes a step back. 

Waverly recovers from the initial shock and her brows furrow again. “We’re going-” she reinstates, and grabs Nicole’s arm firmly. 

Nicole gets up and shrugs her hand off roughly, now  _furious_. Something is burning deep inside her, and it keeps getting worse at every confrontation. She just wants to be  _alone_ , and she’s not going  _anywhere_. 

“Why are you making this so difficult? What’s wrong with you?” Waverly cries out in frustration. 

Nicole frowns, confusion mixing into the initial anger. She doesn’t even  _know_  why she’s so angry, not really. She just  _is_ , there’s this  _thing_  burning up inside of her, and it’s threatening to swallow her up. A distant voice inside her heads tells her it’s not Waverly’s fault, but that voice is quickly swallowed up by the fire inside her. 

Before she can reply, she’s folded down by a wave of pain stabbing through her, taking her breath away. She lets out a whimper and drops to her knees on the floor. 

A new wave of pain rips through her again. And another one. And another one. They’re all coming to her faster and faster, until she can’t distinguish them, can’t catch a break for even a second. Her eyes are squeezed shut, hot tears dripping down her cheeks. She can’t make sense of Waverly’s words, much less reply to her. All she can do is blindly reach out to her. She gets a hold of her wrist and holds on tight. Her breathing turns to hoarse panting. Her whole body hurts now, like she’s burning up, like all of her bones are breaking. 

She’s barely aware of letting go of Waverly, and digging her nails in the floor, before everything fades to black. 


	6. Waverly- Full Moon

Waverly stares right ahead, fixatedly, her throat hoarse from the scream she let out.

In an instant, Wynonna is by her side, Peacemaker in hand.

"Shit, I thought we got them all. Stay back"

"Don't shoot!" Waverly screams.

Wynonna looks at her in disbelief, Peacemaker aimed right ahead, the tip of the gun glowing.

"’Don't shoot?’ There's a demon wolf in your room!"

"That's Nicole"

" _That thing ate Nicole?_ " Wynonna asks, horrified, her finger twitching on the trigger.

"That thing  _is_  Nicole"

"Oh.  _Oh, shit._ "

Waverly looks at the creature in front of her, standing in the middle of her room. It’s exposing huge, sharp teeth with a snarl, but it’s backing away, its tail between its legs. It looks cornered. Lost.  _Scared_. It stares at Peacemaker, the yellow light reflecting in its eyes, and lets out a whimper that nearly breaks Waverly’s heart. Waverly turns to shoot her sister a glare, nodding towards the gun. Wynonna looks doubtful but lowers it to her side, keeping her finger on the trigger. 

Waverly looks over at the animal again. There’s nothing human about that face anymore, nothing except these soft brown eyes, now looking right at Waverly. When she looks into them, Waverly knows  _her Nicole_  is still in there. She leans over, cautiously extending a hand towards the wolf’s face.

“Babygirl...” Wynonna mutters in warning.

“I know what I’m doing,” Waverly whispers. Well, at least, she  _hopes_  she knows.

The wolf draws its head away from her hand as she gets closer.

“Baby, it’s me... Waverly...” 

Waverly speaks softly, leaning closer still. At the sound of her voice, the wolf’s expression seems to change, and it stops trying to pull away, leaving Waverly free to gently lay her hand on soft red fur. 

“Nicole, I know you’re in there. You have to fight it, baby. I know it’s hard, but you’re strong. You can do this.” 

She tries to keep the tone of her voice even, but it’s getting harder as her throat gets tight.  _What if she can’t turn back?_  She tries to push those thoughts away, but she gets choked up nonetheless. “ _You have to fight it,_ ” she repeats, over and over again, like a mantra. 

She rests both hands on either side of the wolf’s head, her face as close as she could possibly get, and she looks deep into familiar brown eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the woman she loves. 

“Fight it,” she repeats once again. “I know the demon is strong, but  _you’re stronger_. You can take over.”

Her heart heavy with despair, Waverly throws all caution out the window and wraps her arms around the wolf’s neck, pulling its head against her. 

She strokes the soft fur, still repeating the encouragements, pouring in everything she wishes someone could’ve told her when  _she_  was the one struggling with a demon. She loses track of time, those few minutes feeling like hours. 

She’s pulled from her dazed state when she feels a shift from the creature in her arms. She hears a soft groan. A  _human_  groan. 

“Not again...” The words come out, muffled by Waverly’s shirt. “Why do I always wake up naked when there’s people around?” 

Waverly’s heart stops at the sound of Nicole’s voice. She looks down at the woman in her arms, laughing and crying with relief all at once. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next day, every flat surface of the Black Badge office is covered with open encyclopedias, ancient texts, centuries-old spell books, and Waverly’s laptop, whirring in protest as she opens yet another tab. Her focus on the translation of an ancient plant-based remedy for what the text refers to as the “Curse of the Full Moon” is broken when she feels a hand on her shoulder. 

“You’ve been at it for hours, you need a break. Let’s go out for lunch,” Nicole offers. Her sleeve is still scrunched up, exposing the white bandage square from where Jeremy has taken a blood sample. She has dark circles under her eyes, but a warm, content smile on her face.

“I can’t stop now- I mean- aren’t you  _worried_?,” she protests, hanging on to the parchment in her hand.

“No,” Nicole says softly. “Not when I have the best researcher of all things paranormal on my case. You need to take a break once in a while, Waverly. I won’t let you work yourself to death. We’ve got time.” 

Waverly puts down the parchment with a sigh and closes her laptop. That’s so  _Nicole_. Worrying about her while  _she’s_  the one getting possessed by a demon wolf. 

“Just for lunch,” she concedes. 

Nicole grins and pulls down her sleeve, ready to go out. As she brings it down, she accidentally rips her bandage off. She pushes her sleeve back up. No mark from the needle in sight, not even a tiny red dot. 

“Guess there are perks to this whole werewolf thing. Just gotta watch out for silver bullets,” she jokes, and Waverly can’t stop her lips from curling into a smile. She grabs Nicole’s hand, which still feels unusually warm, and they walk out together.

They almost reach the car when Waverly notices something’s missing.

“Shoot, I left my cellphone. I’ll be right back,” she says as she walks back towards the station, leaving Nicole to wait in the car. 

Right as she’s about to open the door of the Black Badge Office, she hears murmurs from inside. She was sure everyone had gone out for lunch after them, but she recognizes Doc’s voice. She resolves to wait outside, not wanting to interrupt what seems to be an important conversation. She doesn’t mean to eavesdrop- really, she  _doesn’t-_  but she can’t help it. 

“Remember when I told you about that dog I loved? My best hound?”

“The one you had to shoot cause it had rabies or something, yeah?”

She hears Wynonna reply, her tone a bit impatient.

“That’s right. It wouldn’t come back to me anymore.”

There’s a pause, and she hears Doc let out a long sigh before he continues.

“Wynonna, there’s something I didn’t tell you about that. Didn’t seem relevant at the time. Didn’t want to dwell on the past...”

“Okay...” Wynonna says, and Waverly can picture her face. brows furrowed in confusion and frustration without even seeing it. Her tone clearly indicates she’s not really in the mood for Doc’s dramatic dog story.

“That dog, that... It wasn’t a dog”

There’s a silence. Then, based on the surprised noise of acknowledgement she makes in reply, Wynonna understands. Waverly doesn’t.  

“You mean...” Wynonna starts.

“One of my best mates Jim.” Doc says, so softly Waverly barely hears him. “He was alright at first. Transformation only lasted a couple minutes, an hour, maybe, the first time. It lasted longer the second time around, and so on, until...” he interrupts himself.

Another heavy silence falls between them. 

“We’ll find a way,” Wynonna says, with a firm tone that fails to hide some uncertainty. “We always have.”

“Then we better do it fast,” Doc replies. “Or it’s only a matter of time ‘til she won’t come back to us anymore.” 


End file.
